How to file an 83(b) election in 2026: Form 15620, the IRS portal, and what non-US founders need to do differently

The 83(b) election is the most consequential tax filing a founder makes in the first month of a company's life, and it is the one with the least tolerance for error. The window is exactly 30 calendar days from the date restricted stock is transferred. The IRS offers no extensions, and the penalties for missing it are not procedural. They are structural: every future vesting event becomes a taxable moment at whatever the shares are worth at that point, rather than at the near-zero value they had at the start.

This changed meaningfully in 2025. The IRS now accepts Form 15620 through an online portal, which means the old certified-mail ritual has a faster, more reliable alternative. For non-US founders, the picture is more nuanced. The portal requires ID.me verification, which creates a specific friction point for founders without US identity documents.

What the 83(b) election actually does

When a founder receives restricted stock in a new company, the shares are typically subject to a vesting schedule. From the IRS's perspective, the value of those shares on each vesting date constitutes income for that year, taxed at ordinary income rates.

The 83(b) election changes this entirely. It tells the IRS to treat the full value of the shares as income on the date of transfer, not at each vesting milestone. For a company that was just formed, that value is usually near zero. The tax owed is minimal. And because the election moves the recognition point to the earliest possible date, all subsequent appreciation in the shares is taxed as capital gain rather than ordinary income, and only when the shares are actually sold.

The practical effect is large. A founder with one million shares in a company worth nothing today who does not file an 83(b) election could face a significant ordinary income tax bill several years later if the company grows and the shares vest into a valuable stock. The same founder who filed the election on day one owes a few dollars in tax today and nothing at each vesting event.

The only cost of filing is the filing itself. The only cost of not filing is potentially enormous.

What changed in 2024 and 2025

Until late 2024, filing an 83(b) election meant drafting a written statement, making three copies, signing them, and mailing one to the IRS by certified mail with return receipt, keeping one for your records, and sending one to the company. This was effective but slow, proof of delivery only proved an envelope arrived, and for non-US founders without USPS access, it required either being in the US or using a service.

Two things changed.

November 2024: Form 15620 was released. The IRS published Form 15620 as the first standardised, official form for making an 83(b) election. Previously, an election was a hand-drafted letter following the template in Revenue Procedure 2012-29. Form 15620 standardises the required fields: the property description, the transfer date, any restrictions on the property, the fair market value, and the amount paid. A handwritten statement meeting the Treas. Reg. §1.83-2(e) requirements is still legally valid; Form 15620 is simply the official alternative.

July 2025: The IRS opened electronic filing. The IRS announced that Form 15620 can now be submitted electronically through the IRS's online portal at irs.gov/dmaf/form/f15620. Filing online provides immediate confirmation of receipt, which resolves the central weakness of the mail-based process. Certified mail proves an envelope arrived; the IRS portal confirms the election was received and processed.

The April 2025 revision of Form 15620 (Rev. 4-2025) is the current version and applies to electronic and paper filings.

How to file Form 15620 online, step by step

The online process requires an IRS account verified through ID.me. For founders who already have an IRS online account, the process is straightforward. For those creating one for the first time, the ID.me verification adds time.

Step 1: Create or sign in to your IRS online account. Go to irs.gov and create or log in to your IRS online account. This requires ID.me verification, which typically involves uploading a government-issued ID and taking a selfie for facial recognition. The verification is done entirely online and usually completes within minutes, though some accounts require a video call with an ID.me agent.

Step 2: Navigate to Form 15620. Once logged in, go to irs.gov/dmaf/form/f15620. The form is presented as a guided questionnaire, not a flat PDF.

Step 3: Complete the form. The form asks for the filer's name, taxpayer identification number (SSN or ITIN), address, a description of the property subject to the election, the date the property was transferred, any restrictions on the property, the fair market value of the property at the transfer date, and the amount paid. For a founder receiving shares in a new company at a near-zero valuation, the fair market value and amount paid are typically the same small figure.

Step 4: Confirm you have not filed the same election by mail. The portal asks you to confirm that you have not already mailed a paper election for the same property. File by one method only, not both.

Step 5: Submit electronically. Submit the completed form. The IRS provides an immediate confirmation, which can be downloaded and printed. This confirmation is your proof of timely filing.

Step 6: Send a copy to the company. The IRS requires the filer to also provide a copy of the completed and filed Form 15620 to the company (the employer or issuer of the restricted property). Download the filed copy and send it to your co-founders or to whoever manages company records.

How to file by mail if you prefer or need to

For founders who cannot complete the ID.me verification or who prefer the paper process, filing by mail remains valid.

Print Form 15620 (Rev. 4-2025) from irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f15620.pdf. Complete and sign it. Make three copies: one to mail to the IRS, one to send to the company, and one to keep for your records.

The correct IRS mailing address depends on where the person performing the services is located and where they file their tax return. The current form instructions specify the applicable addresses. Mail by USPS certified mail with return receipt. The postmark date controls for timeliness, per the mailbox rule under Treas. Reg. §301.7502-1. A weekend or holiday deadline pushes the effective postmark deadline to the next business day.

Do not use a custom written statement and online filing simultaneously. Choose one format and use it consistently.

One limitation of the online form worth knowing

The online Form 15620 does not include a field for a spouse's signature. Filers in community property states who want spousal consent documented on the election form itself should file by paper. For most non-community-property-state founders, this limitation does not apply.

What non-US founders need to do differently

The challenge for non-US founders is ID.me. The IRS's online account verification requires a government-issued ID that ID.me can verify, and typically requires a US phone number for multi-factor authentication. Founders with a non-US passport and no US phone number often find the verification process fails partway through.

If ID.me verification is not completing successfully, the options are:

File by paper through a service. Several services and law firms handle the physical mailing on behalf of non-US founders. The certified mail is sent from a US address, which removes the USPS access problem entirely.

Use Clerky's managed 83(b) election. Clerky's Managed 83(b) Election add-on handles the filing on behalf of the founder, including the USPS certified mail step with a trackable return receipt. This is the standard route for Indian founders incorporating through Inkle Incorporate's Clerky-based service. One important note: Clerky's managed service requires that the deadline is 15 calendar days or more away. If the deadline is under 15 days, contact the Inkle team directly.

File through Inkle. Inkle manages the 83(b) filing for Indian founders incorporating through the Inkle Incorporate service at $150 per founder.

The electronic portal does not currently support non-US TINs without an IRS online account, which means a non-US founder who does not have a US SSN or ITIN will face additional steps to set up the account regardless of which path they take.

How the 30-day deadline actually works

The clock starts on the transfer date. This is the date on which the person obtains a beneficial ownership interest in the property, which is typically the date the share purchase agreement is signed and the shares are deemed issued under the terms of that agreement. It is not the date the agreement is sent, not the date it is countersigned by the company, and not the date funds are wired.

For the online portal, the submission timestamp controls. For paper filings, the USPS postmark date controls. A deadline that falls on a Saturday pushes to Monday for the postmark deadline but not necessarily for the online portal, which is available most days. Check in advance.

Do not file at day 29 or day 30. Internal best practice is to file within 10 to 15 days of the transfer date, not at the edge of the window. Mail delays, portal outages, and verification problems are all real. A filing that should have been done on day 12 but was left to day 29 can become a missed filing if anything goes wrong.

A worked example

Northwind Labs, Inc. was incorporated on September 1. The founder signs the stock purchase agreement on September 8, receiving 1,000,000 shares at $0.0001 per share (the stated par value, which is also the fair market value at the time of the brand-new company). The transfer date is September 8. The 83(b) deadline is October 8.

The founder logs into their IRS online account on September 12, navigates to Form 15620, and fills in:

• Property: 1,000,000 shares of Northwind Labs, Inc. common stock
• Transfer date: September 8, 2026
• Restrictions: subject to a four-year vesting schedule with a one-year cliff and repurchase right held by the company
• Fair market value at transfer: $100 (1,000,000 shares x $0.0001)
• Amount paid: $100

The form is submitted electronically. The IRS sends a confirmation that the founder downloads and emails to the company secretary. Done on September 12, 26 days before the deadline.

How Inkle handles 83(b) filings

For Indian founders incorporating through Inkle Incorporate, Inkle manages the 83(b) election at $150 per founder. Because the IRS portal's ID.me verification is often impractical for non-US founders without US identity documents, Inkle uses the paper filing route with USPS certified mail and handles the tracking until the IRS acknowledges receipt.

The 30-day clock and the filing deadline are tracked in Inkle's system from the moment the share purchase agreement is signed. No founder should be discovering the deadline late.

Learn more about Inkle Incorporate.

Frequently asked questions

What is Form 15620? 

Form 15620 is the IRS's official standardised form for making a Section 83(b) election, released in November 2024. It replaces the hand-drafted written statement that founders previously used. Since July 2025, it can also be submitted electronically through the IRS online portal. A handwritten statement meeting the Treasury Regulation requirements remains legally valid; Form 15620 is the simpler and now more common alternative.

Can I file my 83(b) election online? 

Yes, since July 2025. Create or log in to your IRS online account at irs.gov, navigate to irs.gov/dmaf/form/f15620, complete the guided form, and submit electronically. The IRS provides immediate confirmation of receipt. The online form requires ID.me verification for the IRS account, which some non-US founders find difficult to complete without a US identity document or US phone number.

What happens if I miss the 83(b) election deadline? 

The election cannot be filed late. The IRS does not grant extensions and does not accept late filings except in extremely rare cases involving a formal private letter ruling request. If the deadline is missed, every future vesting date becomes a taxable event for the fair market value of the shares vesting on that date, at ordinary income tax rates.

As a non-US founder, what is the best way to file an 83(b) election?

The most reliable route for non-US founders without US identity documents is to use a service that handles the physical mailing, such as Clerky's Managed 83(b) Election add-on or Inkle's managed filing service at $150 per founder. The IRS electronic portal requires ID.me verification, which typically requires a government-issued ID that ID.me can verify and a US phone number for multi-factor authentication. File early enough that problems can be resolved before the deadline.

Do I need to file an 83(b) election if I am the founder of an Indian parent company owning the US company? 

No. The 83(b) election applies to individuals who receive restricted stock in exchange for their own services. If the US company's shares are held by an Indian parent company rather than by founders personally, no 83(b) election is required for that structure.